A group of firefighters from Preston will challenge members of Lancashire Fire Authority on controversial plans to cut the size of crews.

Members of the Fire Brigades' Union (FBU) will descend on a meeting of the full fire authority being held at the Lancashire Fire Brigade's training centre, Euxton, on December 19, to put forward their case against reducing crew sizes from five to four on each appliance.

The proposals, which were voted through by members of the Intergrated Risk Management Committee (IRMP) yesterday, reduce crew numbers on 63 appliances in Lancashire, including Preston, with 32 full-time firefighters being used to promote fire safety and prevention for the whole county.

Steve Harman, Lancashire secretary for the FBU, said: "Lives will be put at risk. We need five people there to be able to safely tackle a fire."

He said a group has already been gathered to visit the meeting.

"We feel it's purely a financial decision and no consideration for those doing the job has been taken.

"The people who make the decisions don't know what it's like to attend a house fire."

Mr Harman added that he believed strike action would be imminent if the proposals were given the nod.